Former Richmond coach Danny Frawley feels Terry Wallace's pain
Mark Robinson | April 14, 2009 08:55pm
DANNY Frawley left a message on Terry Wallace's mobile at 8.30am yesterday. He did it wearing two hats.
One, as chief executive of the AFL Coaches' Association and the other as a former Richmond coach who, like Wallace, found himself under terrific pressure in the last year of his contract in 2004.
Amid ferocious media and supporter speculation, and with the Tigers in 15th spot at 4-9, Frawley announced on Monday, June 28, that he was quitting.
He coached out the season, but the mental torment in the lead-up to his decision for Frawley, his family and the club office-bearers is remembered as a particularly sadistic period in Richmond's recent bloody history.
So much so that Frawley's wife, Anita, has only been to one AFL game since - Robert Harvey's farewell game last year.
The future will determine the parallels shared by Frawley and Wallace, but at the very least, the performances on the field combined with a fervent media already strikes similarities.
At 0-3 and with Wallace needing to play finals to hold his job, Wallace yesterday woke to the headline: DEATH ROW.
Frawley was incensed - professionally and personally.
"As an association we were really disappointed with the headline that was in your paper today," Frawley said.
"We think there's a fine line between criticism and it becoming personal.
"Death Row . . . I know footy is footy but we've had the bush fires, we've had one of our own go down overseas in a car accident.
"There's a fine line between when it really starts affecting your family, how the toll is taken behind the scenes.
"The coaches know, and it's unwritten when they sign on the dotted line, there is going to be some heat, but there's got to be some balance, too.
"I feel for Terry at the moment, no doubt about that, but Terry has got a strong character and he would be the most upbeat bloke at Tigerland. He's got to be.
"The outer scene is all doom and gloom but it won't be behind the scenes."
Frawley was confident Wallace would confront the pressure and manage it, and would soon realise exactly what the meaning of support is.
"The word support . . . he'll know who supports him and who doesn't.
"I think that's a good thing for him to go through. I found that I thought I had all this magnificent support around me, but there were a few boys jumping out of the canoe.
"That was real good learning curve to me.
"It's no coincidence my wife hasn't been to a game of footy since, other than Robert Harvey's last game last year.
"The coach chooses to coach, but the wife and the kids don't, and they're the ones who suffer the backlash more than the coach.
"Coaches are competitive bastards and they will fight to the death and they need to instil that into their players."
Frawley said, as did Wallace after Monday's loss to the Western Bulldogs, that the Tigers were not expected to beat Geelong and the Bulldogs.
"The Blues game, whether it was an aberration or not, was unacceptable and everyone knows that, but then they've played one of last year's grand finalists and one of last year's preliminary finalists.
"And that's what will be said behind closed doors, 'look, we've got some work to do but we've got a winnable game this week'.
"The pressures are more outside than inside. That sounds strange but, as a coach, you find out more about yourself and the players in a time like this."
Frawley was pleased Adelaide coach Neil Craig had offered his support for embattled Fremantle coach Mark Harvey.
"I think Neil Craig had a good balance on the weekend.
"Neil supported Mark Harvey in saying, to turn over a third of your list took a bit of courage and there's going to be a little bit of pain with the transition.
"If you read between the lines, the coaches privately and publicly have been very solid."
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl/story/0,26576,25335655-19742,00.html
